Monday, February 25, 2013

a build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, blamed on human activities led by use of fossil fuels, is heating the Arctic faster than other regions and slowing the mechanism that drives the waves, the study suggested....Past studies have linked such extremes to global warming but did not identify an underlying mechanism, said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute and a co-author.

"This is quite a breakthrough," he wrote. The scientists added that the 32-year-period studied was too short to predict future climate change and that natural variations in the climate had not been ruled out completely as a cause.

In an editorial published February 24, The Oklahoman joined the chorus of newspaper opinion pages calling upon President Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. In making their case, the editors highlighted the committee's live Keystone clock that is counting the time since the Keystone XL application was first submitted to the State Department in September 2008.